Does anybody knows this cat?. It's offered to my by a neighbour [free!!!] Is it worth my effords to try to get it "sailable"

Dunno about the cat .... but I'm pretty sure I saw the pontoons on the front of a late model Cadillac somewhere in Texas!

The "pontoons" look inflatable. Yes?

And here I tought the Hobie 16 (and 14) was the "banana boats" <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

If the boat is complete and you just want something light to cruise around in quiet conditions, why not? If sentral parts like leeboards, rudders etc are missing or the pontoons are punctured/leaking, I would not have bothered. Likewise if you launch from a beach with large surf, I dont know how that boat will handle that.

You could always stick the mast on a real boat and use the platform for a pool float.

Yes, the are inflateable, I was wandering if it makes a nice cat for my 7 year old. I sail a nacra 5,5 myself and it looks like it could be a nice training boat for her

First of all its free for a reason...

So, why not give it to her and let her and her friends sail it around, pop it and after a couple of "Dad, you need to fix my boat", you be asking us what's a good boat for your 8 year old daughter.

THe other route is to get her a Hobie Wave/H14 now and save yourself the headache.

If you are cheap bastard (like me) and like to fix things (like me) and not really sure if the kid will actually use this thing, what's the downside?

Get it, pump it up and make sure you keep an eye on them in case it deflates in the middle of whatever body of water they'll be out on.

Oh and lifejackets would be a requirement, and I'd be sure anyone she takes out can swim....

Good luck and update your umbrella policy for at least a million or so...

Bill

Considering the sea state in the picture it looks a little scary to me.

Get rid of the pontoons and build a couple of small hulls and BAM!... F12.

Depends, what's it rate?

Checked with the neighbour again, the cat is complete and the last time it was inflated [<5yr] it was ok. The neighbour is in his seventies, that is the reason he wants to get rid of it. He approached me last friday when I was blocking the street with my car & trailer & cat [to bring it to the beach--finally] he said he saw me and the cat and figured I might be interested. It comes with a 2HP outboard as well [he figured the outboard was worth €50=+/-$65--that seems reasable]

I checked out the internet but very limited information is available on the boat, I found out that indeed it is made by Semperit the tyre manufactor

I will try to inflate the hulls before trying anything else

If somebody was offering it free down the street from me in the U.S. I would take it in a heartbeat, because it looks like it would be fun for my grandchildren.

I recommend that you don't take it, but ship it to me instead. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Just to give you all an update on the inflatable cat

I brought it along on holiday to the south of France and tried it out..

Perfect little boat, my daughter [and a lot of her friends] loved it.

The boat itself is very easy to sail -tack, gype etc, points reasonable high.

I recieved a lot of commets /questions while on the beach from people who were wondering were to buy/ what price etc.

construction....hmmm I must admit it is build very smart and could be an example for the F12 iniative over here on the forum. The use of wood is to much/ to heavy. I'm thinking of replacing the wooden parts for Alu tubing

all and all, very nice little boat

see attached pictures [I know my daugthers PFD is to big, when sailing alone she used here one, for the pictures she wanted to wear the same as Dad]

another picture

#3

#4

Noted, thanks.

Looking at the pics more closely I see it has exactly the same rod rigging that was proposed for the F12's. What is you opinion on that. Does it work well, is it well enough away from to drew to not be a nuisance ?



Wouter

Wouter,

the rods work quite well, they are not in the way of crew, actualy they guide the lines of the jib and provide a handle /something to hold on to, which is nice for the kids

please notice that there is a wire from the base of the rods to 2/3 of the mast, this is to prevent the mast from bending to much to lee side

The front jib "wire" is solid and provites support as well, both for the mast and for preventing the bows to bend. The jib itself slides in just like the mainsail on a "normal" cat.

BTW you are more then welcome to have a look at the cat. we can not be that far away from each other.

For our foreign friends: The Netherlands is 150 x 225 miles

Well, I may just do that. See your private catsailor mailbox.

Wouter